(I know nothing about namethrive specifically) The auction model is pretty much the standard for the domaining industry, especially when the auction site is se

(I know nothing about namethrive specifically) The auction model is pretty much the standard for the domaining industry, especially when the auction site is selling their own inventory. The reason the auction model is standard in the domain industry is because of how easy it is to game with shill bidding, so be wary. The culture around the domainer industry is very different (in the same way that silicon valley startup culture is very different) and encourages and applauds "creative" monetization techniques. This is an industry that openly advertises domain hijacking services at conferences (sorry, "domain recovery"). I'm happy they are going with straight up fixed price sales, It's hard to trust an auction site from people who self identify as "domainers".